Violet Winspear
Encyclopedia
Violet Winspear was a British
writer
of 70 romance novel
s in Mills & Boon
from 1961 to 1987.
In 1973, she became a launch author for the new Mills & Boon
-Harlequin Presents line of category romance novels. Presents line books were more sexually explicit than the previous line, Romance, under which Winspear had been published. She was chosen to be a launch author because she, along with Anne Mather
and Anne Hampson
were the most popular and prolific British authors of Mills and Boon.
In 1970 Winspear commented that she wrote her leading males as if they were 'capable of rape'. This comment caused uproar and lead to her receiving hate mail.http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/pip/mtwqo/
, England
. She worked in a factory since 1942, when in 1961 she sold her first romance novels to Mills & Boon
. In 1963, she became a full time writer. She wrote from her home in the south-east England, that she never left, but she meticulously researched her far-flung settings at the local library. She never married, and had no children. She inspired her nephew Jonathan Winspear to write.
She said: "The real aim of romance is to provide escape and entertainment", but when in 1970 she commented: "I get my heroes so that they're lean and hard muscled and mocking and sardonic and tough and tigerish and single, of course. Oh and they've got to be rich and then I make it that they're only cynical and smooth on the surface. But underneath they're well, you know, sort of lost and lonely. In need of love but, when roused, capable of breathtaking passion and potency. Most of my heroes, well all of them really, are like that. They frighten but fascinate. They must be the sort of men who are capable of rape: men it's dangerous to be alone in the room with." The comment, that they were 'capable of rape' caused uproar and lead to her receiving hate mail.
Violet Winspear died at January 1989 after a long battle with cancer.
Many established Harlequin novelists such as Robyn Donald
and Kay Thorpe
, employ sexual antagonism
in developing conflict in their stories. For instance, Robyn Donald creates leaping sexual awareness between men and women. Since men are quick to acknowledge this vital force, Robyn casts them into the role of hunter and as women label it as a weakness to despise and overcome, she makes them the prey. This is the adversarial set up that drives her plots forward.
Employing the same motif
of sexual antagonism, Winspear however, contrasts her hero and heroine in such extremes that the heroine lacks awareness of her own sexuality
against the hero who is fully aware of his. This lends her stories an acute imbalance in character development
where the heroine is left bemused with an alpha male hero who exerts overwhelming control over every situation. For example, The Time of the Temptress (1978).
Modern day critics will say that Winspear reinforces a non-entity driven personality of the heroine against a larger than life hero. It is not that the heroine lacks intelligence or initiative. But by today's standards she lacks self esteem in her role as a woman. Whereas Winspear makes it clear as to the sex appeal of the hero, it is not always graphically described why the heroine would be attractive in the same way. As a consequence, although the heroine is duly attracted to the hero, it remains unconvincing to those used to having such attractions graphically spelled out as to why the hero is likewise attracted to the heroine. For example, The Awakening of Alice (1978).
To modern readers, reading any of the older Harlequin romances can be painful in their depictions of women. What Winspear could do was beautifully capture a time, a place, and a British view of the world. Her descriptions of the internal dialogue of her heroines was innovative at a time when most heroines were two dimensional.
One must consider the social mores of the 1970s. Although these books were written after the sexual revolution, it was still a "bad" woman and not a "good" girl who would choose to have sex. Therefore, having the choice taken away from the heroine by plot devices like being captured, or being secretly in love with a hero so very worthy (and she felt she was not) that she had little choice but to carpe diem. The heroine relieved herself of moral responsibility in the eyes of the reader.
The Time of the Temptress (1978) conveys its jungle surrounding very realistically, especially with an episode where an unsuspecting Eve is besieged by crabs. Caught amidst an African civil war, Eve and Wade are forced to make their escape out of the jungle on foot. Despite Wade's ceaseless taunts and jeers, in a case of Stockholm syndrome
, where Eve finds herself totally dependent on Wade for her rescue, she falls in love with him.
Even an unimaginative melodrama
such as the Valdez Marriage (1977) retains its vivid portrayal of place and atmosphere. In Valdez Marriage, a young girl is lured to the side of a school friend by his overbearing brother. She is blamed for the accident which crippled her friend, even though the latter's uninvited groping caused the car accident. Add to this a dour housekeeper, sexy distant relative and an ancient mansion.
The Palace of the Peacock (1969) is a Violet Winspear classic. In this story Winspear showcases a Java island and its people with extreme delicacy contributing to both realism
and a sense of escapist reading one and the same time for her post-World War II
English readers.
In The Palace of the Peacock (1969) Temple Lane reveals a streak for adventure when she travels to a far away island in the Java
Seas in search of her fiance Nick. A disillusioned Temple takes the initiative to pose as a boy to obtain the last cabin bunk available in the outgoing steamer. She then accepts a temporary job offer by Dutchman Ryk van Helden, a local plantation manager.
A criticism of this story must be that although Temple is excited by Ryk, the question goes unanswered as to why should Ryk find Temple desirable. It happens that in the island of Bayanura, Temple is the only white women in miles. And so, despite Temple Lane's spunky attempts at adventure, she comes across as yet another of Winspear's unoriginal heroines.
A plain Jane Alice in Awakening of Alice (1978) steps out of her comfort zone as she travels to a Greek island to tidy up a mess created by her glamorous sister. The awakening of love in this story is more convincing since it also gives a reason for the hero's attraction for Alice who resembles his past fiance. However, the imbalance in the equity between the two main characters is apparent when Alice is held against her wishes by the Greek hero, with whom she falls in love.
Another classic Court of the Veils (1968) also stands out for this reason because the hero spells out his attraction for the heroine for being a 'deep girl' compared to her foil
who preferred much dancing and friovolous gaiety.
Joanna in Rain Tree Valley (1971) reads an advertising for home help. She answers the add, and gets the job. Adam, the alpha male hero is abrasive, but Joanna falls for him anyway.
The heroine of Black Douglas (1971), forever complaining about the deficiencies in her looks, is accepted by the hero who is blind.
The local color to add 'eh' after each sentence is unavoidable when reading Violet Winspear. However, unlike Flora Kidd
's rendering of Scottish inspired dialogues, Winspear's attempt takes away from the general flow of conversation rather than adding substance to it.
Violet Winspear writes in a style that is not sufficiently modern for present day readers. However, the use of archaic
turn of phrasing and dialogues create a by-gone era mood in step with her subject material.
Snow Troupe staged Blue Jasmine.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
of 70 romance novel
Romance novel
The romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. Novels in this genre place their primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and must have an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Through the late...
s in Mills & Boon
Mills & Boon
Mills & Boon is a British publisher of romance novels. It was founded in 1908, and was independent until its purchase in 1971 by Harlequin Enterprises with whom the company had had a long informal partnership...
from 1961 to 1987.
In 1973, she became a launch author for the new Mills & Boon
Mills & Boon
Mills & Boon is a British publisher of romance novels. It was founded in 1908, and was independent until its purchase in 1971 by Harlequin Enterprises with whom the company had had a long informal partnership...
-Harlequin Presents line of category romance novels. Presents line books were more sexually explicit than the previous line, Romance, under which Winspear had been published. She was chosen to be a launch author because she, along with Anne Mather
Anne Mather
Anne Mather is the pseudonym used by Mildred Grieveson , a popular British author of over 160 romance novels. She also signed novels as Caroline Fleming and Cardine Fleming....
and Anne Hampson
Anne Hampson
Anne Hampson was a British writer of over 125 romance novels in Mills & Boon from 1969 to 1998. She published historical romance novels under the pseudonym Jane Wilby. Although she retired in 1998, in 2005 she published two romance and a crime novel...
were the most popular and prolific British authors of Mills and Boon.
In 1970 Winspear commented that she wrote her leading males as if they were 'capable of rape'. This comment caused uproar and lead to her receiving hate mail.http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/pip/mtwqo/
Biography
Violet Winspear was born on 28 April 1928 in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. She worked in a factory since 1942, when in 1961 she sold her first romance novels to Mills & Boon
Mills & Boon
Mills & Boon is a British publisher of romance novels. It was founded in 1908, and was independent until its purchase in 1971 by Harlequin Enterprises with whom the company had had a long informal partnership...
. In 1963, she became a full time writer. She wrote from her home in the south-east England, that she never left, but she meticulously researched her far-flung settings at the local library. She never married, and had no children. She inspired her nephew Jonathan Winspear to write.
She said: "The real aim of romance is to provide escape and entertainment", but when in 1970 she commented: "I get my heroes so that they're lean and hard muscled and mocking and sardonic and tough and tigerish and single, of course. Oh and they've got to be rich and then I make it that they're only cynical and smooth on the surface. But underneath they're well, you know, sort of lost and lonely. In need of love but, when roused, capable of breathtaking passion and potency. Most of my heroes, well all of them really, are like that. They frighten but fascinate. They must be the sort of men who are capable of rape: men it's dangerous to be alone in the room with." The comment, that they were 'capable of rape' caused uproar and lead to her receiving hate mail.
Violet Winspear died at January 1989 after a long battle with cancer.
Book Notes
Violet Winspear's novels take the readers around the world. Even though many of her storylines are uninspiring, she excels at boldly using the written words to picturize the surroundings of her plots. For example, The Palace of the Peacocks (1969).Many established Harlequin novelists such as Robyn Donald
Robyn Donald
Robyn Donald is a prolific writer of romance novels from New Zealand.She writes for the English Mills and Boon romance series, and all her books have also been reedited under Harlequin Enterprises Limited series....
and Kay Thorpe
Kay Thorpe
Kay Thorpe is a British author of over seventy-five romance novels. She published her novels in Mills & Boon since 1968. All her novels have also been published under Harlequin Enterprises Limited. Over a period of four decades, she has produced a body of sensuous work that investigates heritage,...
, employ sexual antagonism
Antagonism
Antagonism is hostility that results in active resistance, opposition, or contentiousness.Additionally, it may refer to:*Antagonism , where the involvement of multiple agents reduces their overall effect...
in developing conflict in their stories. For instance, Robyn Donald creates leaping sexual awareness between men and women. Since men are quick to acknowledge this vital force, Robyn casts them into the role of hunter and as women label it as a weakness to despise and overcome, she makes them the prey. This is the adversarial set up that drives her plots forward.
Employing the same motif
Motif (narrative)
In narrative, a motif is any recurring element that has symbolic significance in a story. Through its repetition, a motif can help produce other narrative aspects such as theme or mood....
of sexual antagonism, Winspear however, contrasts her hero and heroine in such extremes that the heroine lacks awareness of her own sexuality
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
against the hero who is fully aware of his. This lends her stories an acute imbalance in character development
Character development
Character development may refer to:* The change in characterization of a dynamic character, who changes over the course of a narrative.* Character creation, especially for games...
where the heroine is left bemused with an alpha male hero who exerts overwhelming control over every situation. For example, The Time of the Temptress (1978).
Modern day critics will say that Winspear reinforces a non-entity driven personality of the heroine against a larger than life hero. It is not that the heroine lacks intelligence or initiative. But by today's standards she lacks self esteem in her role as a woman. Whereas Winspear makes it clear as to the sex appeal of the hero, it is not always graphically described why the heroine would be attractive in the same way. As a consequence, although the heroine is duly attracted to the hero, it remains unconvincing to those used to having such attractions graphically spelled out as to why the hero is likewise attracted to the heroine. For example, The Awakening of Alice (1978).
To modern readers, reading any of the older Harlequin romances can be painful in their depictions of women. What Winspear could do was beautifully capture a time, a place, and a British view of the world. Her descriptions of the internal dialogue of her heroines was innovative at a time when most heroines were two dimensional.
One must consider the social mores of the 1970s. Although these books were written after the sexual revolution, it was still a "bad" woman and not a "good" girl who would choose to have sex. Therefore, having the choice taken away from the heroine by plot devices like being captured, or being secretly in love with a hero so very worthy (and she felt she was not) that she had little choice but to carpe diem. The heroine relieved herself of moral responsibility in the eyes of the reader.
The Time of the Temptress (1978) conveys its jungle surrounding very realistically, especially with an episode where an unsuspecting Eve is besieged by crabs. Caught amidst an African civil war, Eve and Wade are forced to make their escape out of the jungle on foot. Despite Wade's ceaseless taunts and jeers, in a case of Stockholm syndrome
Stockholm syndrome
In psychology, Stockholm Syndrome is an apparently paradoxical psychological phenomenon wherein hostages express empathy and have positive feelings towards their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them...
, where Eve finds herself totally dependent on Wade for her rescue, she falls in love with him.
Even an unimaginative melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
such as the Valdez Marriage (1977) retains its vivid portrayal of place and atmosphere. In Valdez Marriage, a young girl is lured to the side of a school friend by his overbearing brother. She is blamed for the accident which crippled her friend, even though the latter's uninvited groping caused the car accident. Add to this a dour housekeeper, sexy distant relative and an ancient mansion.
The Palace of the Peacock (1969) is a Violet Winspear classic. In this story Winspear showcases a Java island and its people with extreme delicacy contributing to both realism
Literary realism
Literary realism most often refers to the trend, beginning with certain works of nineteenth-century French literature and extending to late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century authors in various countries, towards depictions of contemporary life and society "as they were." In the spirit of...
and a sense of escapist reading one and the same time for her post-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
English readers.
In The Palace of the Peacock (1969) Temple Lane reveals a streak for adventure when she travels to a far away island in the Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
Seas in search of her fiance Nick. A disillusioned Temple takes the initiative to pose as a boy to obtain the last cabin bunk available in the outgoing steamer. She then accepts a temporary job offer by Dutchman Ryk van Helden, a local plantation manager.
A criticism of this story must be that although Temple is excited by Ryk, the question goes unanswered as to why should Ryk find Temple desirable. It happens that in the island of Bayanura, Temple is the only white women in miles. And so, despite Temple Lane's spunky attempts at adventure, she comes across as yet another of Winspear's unoriginal heroines.
A plain Jane Alice in Awakening of Alice (1978) steps out of her comfort zone as she travels to a Greek island to tidy up a mess created by her glamorous sister. The awakening of love in this story is more convincing since it also gives a reason for the hero's attraction for Alice who resembles his past fiance. However, the imbalance in the equity between the two main characters is apparent when Alice is held against her wishes by the Greek hero, with whom she falls in love.
Another classic Court of the Veils (1968) also stands out for this reason because the hero spells out his attraction for the heroine for being a 'deep girl' compared to her foil
Foil (literature)
In fiction, a foil is a character who contrasts with another character in order to highlight particular qualities of another character....
who preferred much dancing and friovolous gaiety.
Joanna in Rain Tree Valley (1971) reads an advertising for home help. She answers the add, and gets the job. Adam, the alpha male hero is abrasive, but Joanna falls for him anyway.
The heroine of Black Douglas (1971), forever complaining about the deficiencies in her looks, is accepted by the hero who is blind.
The local color to add 'eh' after each sentence is unavoidable when reading Violet Winspear. However, unlike Flora Kidd
Flora Kidd
Flora Kidd was a British-Canadian popular writer of over 70 romance novels in Mills & Boon from 1966 to 2000.-Biography:Flora born on 1926 in Liverpool, England...
's rendering of Scottish inspired dialogues, Winspear's attempt takes away from the general flow of conversation rather than adding substance to it.
Violet Winspear writes in a style that is not sufficiently modern for present day readers. However, the use of archaic
Archaism
In language, an archaism is the use of a form of speech or writing that is no longer current. This can either be done deliberately or as part of a specific jargon or formula...
turn of phrasing and dialogues create a by-gone era mood in step with her subject material.
Single Novels
- Lucifer's Angel (1961)
- Wife Without Kisses (1961)
- Strange Waif (1962)
- House of Strangers (1963)
- Beloved Tyrant (1964)
- Love's Prisoner (1964)
- Cap Flamingo (1964)
- Bride's Dilemma (1965)
- Desert Doctor (1965)
- Tower of the Captive (1966)
- Viking Stranger (1966)
- Tender Is the Tyrant (1967)
- Beloved Castaway (1968)
- Court of the Veils (1968)
- Blue Jasmine (1969)
- Palace of the Peacocks (1969)
- Unwilling Bride (1969)
- Dangerous Delight (1969)
- Pilgrim's Castle (1969)
- Chateau of St. Avrell (1970)
- Cazalet Bride (1970)
- Castle of the Seven Lilacs (1971)
- Bride of Lucifer (1971)
- Dear Puritan (1971)
- Black Douglas (1971)
- Raintree Valley (1971)
- Little Nobody (1972)
- Silver Slave (1972)
- Rapture of the Desert (1972)
- Devil in a Silver Room (1973)
- Kisses and the Wine (1973)
- Forbidden Rapture (1973)
- Glass Castle (1973)
- Noble Savage (1974)
- Palace of the Pomegranate (1974)
- Girl at Goldenhawk (1974)
- Dearest Demon (1975)
- Devil's Darling (1975)
- Satan Took a Bride (1975)
- Darling Infidel (1976)
- Sin of Cynara (1976)
- Burning Sands (1976)
- The Sun Tower (1976)
- Love Battle (1977)
- Passionate Sinner (1977)
- Time of the Temptress (1977)
- Love in a Stranger's Arms (1977)
- Loved and the Feared (1977)
- Valdez Marriage (1978)
- Awakening of Alice (1978)
- Desire Has No Mercy (1979)
- Sheik's Captive (1979)
- A Girl Possessed (1980)
- Love's Agony (1981)
- Man She Married (1982)
- By Love Bewitched (1984)
- Brides Lace (1984)
- Secret Fire (1984)
- House of Storms (1985)
- Sun Lord's Woman (1985)
- Syn of Cynara (1986)
- The Honeymoon (1986)
- A Silken Barbarity (1987)
- Primavera em Veneza (1982)
Anthologies
- The Fifth Anthology of 3 Harlequin Romances by Violet Winspear (1981)
- The Sixth Anthology of 3 Harlequin Romances by Violet Winspear (1983)
Graphic Novels
- Blue Jasmine (Art by Masae Hashimoto)
- Passionate Sinner (Art by Yoko Hanabusa)
- Lucifer's Angel (Art by Yoko Hanabusa)
- Desert Doctor (Art by Naomi Hibiki)
- Dragon Bay (Art by Rin Ogata)
- Love is the Honey (Art by Amii Hayasaka)
- The Child of Judas (Art by Misao Hoshiai)
- The Burning Sands (Art by Misao Hoshiai)
- Time of the Tempress (Art by Misao Hoshiai)
- Pilgrim's Castle (Art by Misuzu Sasaki)
- Sun Loard's Woman (Art by Rinko Nagami)
- A Silken Barbarity (Art by Kaishi Sakuya)
Musicals
In 1983, TakarazukaTakarazuka Revue
The Takarazuka Revue is a Japanese all-female musical theater troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals, and sometimes stories adapted from shōjo manga and Japanese folktales. The troupe takes its name...
Snow Troupe staged Blue Jasmine.
- Director / Playwright: Ken Ako
- Composer / Arranger: Takio Terada, Kenji Yoshizaki
- Kasim ben Hussayn: Rei Asami
- Lorna Morel: Kurara Haruka
- Rodney: Michi Taira